Warning: This chapter contains some violence and adult content.
~3~
The trampling of feet and the slamming of doors sounded like thunder coming down the hallway. I tried to push my way through the busy crowd, so I wouldn't be late to my third period class. It was no use, I was always late and my teacher didn't care enough when I told him I always got stuck behind people. Apparently, I'm supposed to have magic super powers!
I felt a few angry elbows jam into my side and a few nasty pushes against my shoulder as I struggled to push them all out of the way. They were like a herd of cattle; strong, stubborn bulls who wouldn't move if a bull dozer was coming for them.
I had finally reached the doors to go upstairs when it opened abruptly, slamming into my face and knocking me to the ground, my books spilling over. Of course, no one cared enough and just simply trampled over them, laughing as they went.
I was on my hands and knees on the floor, scooping them up into a pile and scooting back against the lockers, deciding to wait until the crowds died down before I went to class. I put my head down on my knees when I felt a soft hand press down onto my shoulder and soft breaths caress my face.
"Are you okay?" Edward said sweetly, "Didn't you hear me calling your name down the hallway?"
I looked up shock into his eyes and shook my head in disbelief. Had he actually wanted my attention in public, in school? In front of all his peers who so often like to joke and laugh at me.
He took my two hands into his and I felt his soft palms press into them. He pulled me up to his feet so I could be level with him and then bent down to pick up my books. I looked around and saw some weird glances and stares in our direction but the main crowd had long since been gone. Only a few stragglers were left in the hall now.
I was amazed that Edward Cullen was becoming such a friend to me. He talked to me in the hallway and helped me up just like a normal friend would. Or at least, that's what I saw in the movies and on TV. I never had someone be nice to me; I was so used to the laughing. This was all so foreign to me.
He pressed my books back into my arms and leaned back away from me. He looked around cautiously and I knew he was embarrassed to be interacting with me, the weirdo.
"So," he stuttered, "I just wanted to tell you, that I can't meet with you after school today. I promised my friend I would help him out with something and that so happens to be today, and I forgot, I'm so sorry."
I nodded, "S'okay," I said to the floor. Maybe that would appreciate my words.
"Yeah," he said, stuffing his hand into his pockets and looking around nervously like we were sneaking around. I wanted to scream at him to just go if it was so hard for him to be around me in public, when one of his friends interrupted instead.
"Yo, Edward, c'mon man, let's go," a buff male, by the name of Emmett I thought, called down the hall to us.
"I'm coming," Edward called back. He turned back to look at me. "Well, I gotta go, I'll see ya Monday," he rushed out and I watched as he walked quickly away from me. What was I kidding myself, Edward wasn't my friend. He was just like the rest of them. He walked away from me like I was a disease, but as he left, I thought I saw a glimmer of hurt and apology buried somewhere deep in those green eyes…
The orange lights flickered above me and I decided to pack up my stuff and exit the library. It was proof that my life was pathetic by the way I stayed at the school library till 5:30 on a Friday night.
I walked out into the dark halls, that were darker than usual, and into my danger zone. I was too busy thinking of the piece of pizza I could whip up at home for dinner before I had my nightly crying jag, that I didn't see the weight room doors open ahead of me.
I heard the crashing sound as a tall, dark male walked briskly down the hall way, slowing down when he saw me. I knew it would be best to turn around and run, but he would catch me. I felt lost as Tom always made me feel and I wished that Edward was by my side just like he had been the previous nights.
I heard Tom's heavy breathing when he stopped just a few feet in front of me. I was frozen in place, my bag hanging off my shoulder, my face to the floor. Not tonight Tom, I prayed, please.
"So I see you been hanging with Cullen lately," he shouted loudly, making my whole body wince and my eyes squint tight together.
"What, he is like your protector or something?" he yelled even louder. He had moved closer and I felt him tower over me, breathing down my face, but I still didn't move a muscle and kept my face down to the floor.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw his big strong hand come up and in a flash, I felt it whip across my face. I heard the crack it made and the force of his strength made me stumble back. Unfortunately, he had caught me by the arm and pulled me up against him. "Answer me when I'm talking to you bitch!" he screamed at me. "You've been hanging around Cullen all week after school and I saw you two in the hallway this morning, now tell me, are you his now?" he continued to yell.
I shook my head weakly. "Answer me!" he yelled as he shook my shoulders and I felt my head bob back in forth.
"No," I squeaked out as tears came to my eyes. My cheek was still reeling from the pain of his hit and I was dying for an escape.
"Liar!" he screamed.
"I'm not!" I screeched back at him, not holding back my tears as they fell.
"Well, then why don't you send your new little boy toy a message," he began harshly, furiously whispering into my ear. His cold breath made me shiver, "You are mine and nobody else's. Tell him to get lost, or I will deal with him myself."
I nodded silently through my tears as he pulled his mouth away from my ear and threw his fierce lips onto mine. I struggled to pull away from him but he only latched onto me harder. In seconds, my bag was thrown off of my arm and I was thrown back into the same old familiar closet.
He was using a new force with me, one that he had never used before, and I guessed it was from his anger and resentment. I felt my whole body crash back into the shelf holding supplies when he threw me into it and I landed on the floor, my whole body scraping against the cement.
I turned my head and watched him in horror as he bounded to the door and picked me up off the ground by my brown curly hair. I let out screeching screams until he threw me back onto the floor, and he began to unzip his pants.
Before I knew it, he crashed down on top of me, lifting my skirt up. I pushed against his chest as hard as I could, screaming loudly. "NO!" I shouted at him and I pulled on both of his ears with my free hands.
He got up, dragging me up with him angrily. "Shutup!" he screamed in my face and then I was back on the ground, my ribs slamming down hard against it. He was back on me, yanking at my sweater and skirt and I felt them both rip under his rough fingers.
I screamed louder, kicking my legs to get him off of me, when I heard the footsteps of someone else bound through the small closet, slamming the door open.
Tom was suddenly off of me, but before he left me for the strange figure in the door, he put his fist into my eye to keep me down on the floor. I scrambled up onto my knees, holding my side where the pain stabbed me, and crawled to the back of the closet, leaning onto the metal shelves for support. Finally, I glanced back around and saw Edward Cullen attacking Tom through their screams.
"You leave her alone!" he screamed in fury into Tom's face, "Do you hear me? You will never lay a hand on her again you sick son of a bitch!"
With one last punch to his face, Tom fell back and Edward rushed to me clinging in fear to the closet shelf, trying to scoop me up. I saw the anger written all over his face and I was afraid to go to trust this new side of Edward.
"No, don't touch me," I screamed, as he tried to pick me up.
"I'm not gonna hurt you," he said calmly to me, and I willingly let go so he could scoop me up into his arms.
My arms were thrown around his neck, and my face was pressed against his broad chest as he jumped over Tom and ran through the dark school hallway with me in his arms. My eyes were still closed and body still shaking from fright as we made it into the parking lot. I was too distracted trying to block out the recent events that I didn't notice him stuff me into the front seat of his car. I crumpled into a tiny ball on the black leather seat and felt him climb into the driver's seat and speed out of the parking lot and onto the road. I glanced up outside the window and said, "Where are you taking me? What about my car?"
"We'll get it later," he spit out, his temper still angry, "I have to make sure you're okay right now."
"I'm fine," I tried to reassure him, although I knew I was far from fine.
"Don't lie to me," he said loudly, although still caring, "You're bleeding all over the place and I saw the way he handled you."
I looked all over my body and saw the bruises beginning to form and felt the blood gushing from my nose. I felt my tears of fear begin to fall again. Edward's worried eyes glanced over at me from the road and I saw all of his anger disappear, and in replace, was his sorrow.
"Don't worry, I'm going to make you okay," he cooed sweetly and I believed it. I felt like I could trust him, despite what happened earlier in school. As we pulled in through the gates to the driveway of a tall white mansion, I knew that this boy was like a true friend to me. He saved me from my worst nightmare and he was here to help me pick up the pieces…
